....The Obama campaign had thoughtfully arranged for my wife and myself to attend the forum, and we did  well, sort of. When we arrived with plenty of time, the church grounds were locked down and we never did make it inside. The Sheriffs Department was confronted at the entrance with loud and sometimes unruly protest. Many protesting were carrying large pictures of unborn or aborted babies.

As a pro-life Catholic, I understand that one way to instruct about evil is to unmask its ugliness. Abortion is ugly. And so for the next two hours we were subjected to one bloody photo or another being thrust into our face as one epithet or another was hurled at Senator Obama. There was also a contingent of yellow-tee-shirted protestors proclaiming marriage to be between one man and one woman, to which as Catholics we also concur....

If we are to follow the model of Pastor Warrens civil forum, as Catholics we need to undertake to address abortion in its full social justice context and in as great a spirit of charity and friendship as remains possible in American politics.

And with the Catholic mind so totally closed to alternative means to reduce abortion, ...

It appears the gentleman is in dissent from more than the voting guidelines, since he must know that the "Catholic mind" is profoundly and creatively engaged in reducing abortion by promoting chastity, fidelity, and charity. "Willful ignorance" is the phrase that comes to mind.

I’m not sure that’s true. I have enormous respect for Doug Kmiec, who is a friend and fellow parishoner at Our Lady of Malibu. He is an extremely intelligent, experienced, thoughtful man who attends daily Mass. He does support Obama, which baffles me.

Oh, and Obama shows great humility. I swear someone zapped half the country with mind numbing rays.

**snip**

In this, there is no effort to address underlying cause and certainly no extension of empathy with the poverty or the ignorance or the cruelty that may lie behind the morally tragic contemplation of a woman to take the life of her own child. And with the Catholic mind so totally closed to alternative means to reduce abortion, it then often remains closed to every aspect of the social justice teaching of the Catholic tradition  whether it be providing a living wage, decent shelter, adequate prenatal care or the preservation of the created environment.

If we are to follow the model of Pastor Warrens civil forum, as Catholics we need to undertake to address abortion in its full social justice context and in as great a spirit of charity and friendship as remains possible in American politics. John McCain told us what we wanted to hear. It is less clear he told us what we needed to know to open the Catholic mind  not to the acceptance of evil, but to its amelioration by means other than condemnation.

what is his explanation to his friends for this insanity? laura and wendy on the show today count themselves as friends and colleagues of Doug’s, and he could not answer them in any meaningful way. they were beyond perplexed. i know of this man and what he has believed and stood for in the past, even as recently as this past spring when he was an advisor to Mitt Romney for judicial appointments, along with Wendy Long. What can possibly explain his turn to lunacy?

as you and i have discussed, i want an explanation from him. i would be BEATING IT OUT OF HIM, were he my friend! LOL!~
i could not let it rest. it is one thing if he decided, in the quiet of his soul, to vote for obama, but he is putting himself out there as a posterboy for a democrat Catholic and giving cover to otherwise faithful Catholics who would want to vote for obama. it is an abomination and he has to be called to account for this.

The link below is a transcript of Doug Kmiec from 1996. Comparing it to today and his support of Obama is almost beyond believable.

Kmiec covers up for Obama's outright pride and promotion of the American Holocaust with "social justice context" crap. This is the same as covering for Hitler by noting the quality and efficiency of the trains.

The guy just doesn’t want to admit he was wrong and immoral to support Obama. Saddleback made it clear as daylight. He even spins in his article deliberately “ignoring” (yeah right) McCain being “wildly optimistic” about non embryo-destroying research replacing ESCR. Way to go, Doug.

26
posted on 08/18/2008 6:12:27 PM PDT
by Norman Bates
(Freepmail me to be part of the McCain List!)

"And with the Catholic mind so totally closed to alternative means to reduce abortion, it then often remains closed to every aspect of the social justice teaching of the Catholic tradition  whether it be providing a living wage, decent shelter, adequate prenatal care or the preservation of the created environment."

This absolutely baffles me. Kmiec certainly must know that Catholics were heavily invested in Pregnancy Aid Centers and many, many other initiatives to support women --- especially poor and young women --- in making life-affirming choices for themselves and their babies.

Good heavens, "Birthright," the premiere pregnancy assistance group, was founded I think in 1967, six years before Roe vs Wade.

And Catholics have been in the forefront of the whole movement to understand pro-life in its wider setting as the foundation of human rights.

If I didn't know Kmiec was an intelligent and devout man. I'd think he was an ignorant yob. (Slapping brow repeatedly.) You see my problem.

He also is a global warming True Believer, cites "racially segregated public schools that don't teach" (then goes on to endorse the Party responsible for the academic irresponsibility), talks about us as "a nation of immigrants that won't welcome any more of them." (look around you and tell me we don't welcome PLENTY of immigrants).

But what galls me is the accusation that Catholics don't give a damn about mothers. He indicates this in his litany against us:

with the Catholic mind so totally closed to alternative means to reduce abortion, it then often remains closed to every aspect of the social justice teaching of the Catholic tradition  whether it be providing a living wage, decent shelter, adequate prenatal care or the preservation of the created environment.

as if charity is crap and only Government redistribution counts as "caring".

Yep. He's a socialist.

33
posted on 08/18/2008 6:30:27 PM PDT
by Jeff Chandler
(A community in Chicago is missing an organizer.)

I do not think he is intelligent. He was furious that the USSC recognized the individual right inherent in the 2nd amendment. He is for very strict gun control and banning of handguns. He had a relative (brother in law I believe) murdered. He is so intelligent he blames the firearm.

Doug Kmiec supports Obama, does he not? Something which should be understood when reading this article and which to me is hypocritical as a Catholic. Thus Kmiec's opinions on this topic are hypocritical and thus lose credibility.

I agree with Kmiec about the behavior of the protestors. It's not going to persuade anyone and is more likely to harden people on the opposite side to their position if they aren't hardened already.

But evil needs to be confronted and defeated and we need to say that such is necessary. Too often the message we hear today regarding evil is one of tolerance. There was nothing in McCain's position which led me to believe he would use war as a first resort (unless like on 9/11, we are attacked first) with tyrannical countries with whom we disagree.

Let`s cut to the chase....the term “pro abortion/pro choice Christian” is simply a oxymoron. Being pro choice/pro abortion, is a disqualifier from the Christian faith. Anybody that holds the view of pro choice/pro abortion does not have the Spirit of Christ within them.

Those that hold those views might just as well eat drink and be merry, because they wont enter the Kingdom of God.

42
posted on 08/18/2008 8:52:02 PM PDT
by Friendofgeorge
(Obama on the other hand does not know the Lord Jesus, and is only the Lords enemy)

This is mind-boggling to those of us who know Doug or have followed his career. Doug's support of Obama and his nuanced analysis on abortion is one of the biggest disappointments of this entire election season (you know the other one!). ;-)

I think Doug and others like him are terribly misguided when they include social concerns like racism, immigration and health care under the "culture of life" umbrella. That's not a fatal flaw, in and of itself, until they elevate those causes to the same level of importance as the abortion issue. It's clear that they are sadly confused when they find a moral equivalence between their positions on those other social justice issues and the non-negotiable right to life.

"Willful ignorance" is the phrase that comes to mind in this context, too. Irrespective of a person's IQ or SAT scores, there's something not-quite-sane about refusing to admit facts that contradict one's preconceptions.

I for one am sick of hearing from this jerk kmiec. I don’t give a damn what he has to say. What he WAS means nothing to me. What he IS does mean something. He is a phony who wants to put a baby murderer in the White House. He is there for my enemy.

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